Ciana Dale
MEDIA, Pa. — Ciana Dale, a fourth-year psychology major, reflects on her Penn State Brandywine experience so far and how her involvement and coursework have helped her succeed.
“I chose to attend Penn State Brandywine because it’s close to home, and being from Pennsylvania, it’s also an affordable option,” she said. “Also, both of my parents went to Penn State; we’re a Penn State family, so it made sense to attend here.”
Dale has always known she wanted to major in psychology, as her mom works in the applied behavioral analysis (ABA) field, and she wanted to follow in her footsteps.
“Since my mom works in psychology, specifically in the ABA field, I grew up seeing what she does and it influenced my decision in choosing what I wanted to do in college,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in understanding the people around me and how their minds work.”
Dale cited how her psychology courses have allowed her to gain valuable research experience, as completing research is ingrained into the curriculum. Specifically, she mentioned that Basic Research Methods in Psychology (PSYCH 301W) and Introduction to Well-Being and Positive Psychology (PSYCH 243) were two courses where she was able to dive deep into research.
“For psychology majors, we have research built into our classes. I remember in PSYCH 301W, we were able to design psychological studies. I was also able to gather quantitative and qualitative data for a study in PSYCH 243 which was fun,” she said.
“I always find those to be really helpful because when I get into the field, I’m going to be looking at research quite a bit.”
Upon graduating from Penn State this May, Dale wants to go to graduate school to study art therapy and linguistics. She noted how the research experience she got at Brandywine will help her when completing research in her graduate program.
“The research I do in my coursework shows me the exact things I need to know with research. Penn State building research into its courses gives students a leg up because you’re not going in blind when you go to graduate school; you’ll already know how to complete research studies,” she said.
“Now that I have some experience, I’ll be going into graduate school and know what I’m doing. I won’t be as overwhelmed as I would be without the research experience.”
During her time at Brandywine, Dale has been very involved, working in the Student Academic Success Center as a Lion Guide, holding the position of president of the Psychology Club and serving on the Mental Health and Wellness Committee alongside Brandywine faculty and staff.
“I really enjoy getting to help plan the Mental Health and Wellness Fair. That was probably my favorite memory from my time at Brandywine,” she said. “I was able to play a role in the event itself too. I created a poster with a positive psychology prompt so attendees could practice gratitude. They were told to write three things they were grateful for now or in the future. A lot of people did it and put what they were grateful for on the board. It made me really happy to see what made others happy.”
I feel like we lose sight of what’s important sometimes and get wrapped up in the day-to-day hustle, but it’s really important to slow yourself down and realize how far you’ve come.—Ciana Dale , fourth-year student, Penn State Brandywine
Dale said the most valuable lesson she’s learned during her time at Brandywine is perseverance and looking at the bigger picture.
“I would say I learned perseverance the most. I took a year off of school and I was able to come back and get Dean’s List that semester. I was really proud of myself for that,” she said.
“I also learned how to put things into perspective and slow down," Dale added. "I feel like we lose sight of what’s important sometimes and get wrapped up in the day-to-day hustle, but it’s really important to slow yourself down and realize how far you’ve come.”
